Monika Morgenstern was born near Cologne in Germany and currently lives and works at Strathalbyn, South Australia on Ngarrindjeri country.

As a visual artist she has explored multiple expressions of the numinous and, since graduating BVA with honours from ACSA in 2014, has been working with light and its effect on glass, digital prints, lightboxes, and projections. In 1993 she earned an Associate Diploma of Arts from Swinburne University Melbourne and before emigrating to Australia (in 1990) she studied interior design for two years in Duesseldorf/Germany. Morgenstern has further developed her craft through meaningful mentorships with Fulvia Mantelli (curator) in 2010, in 2020/21 with Erni Tinesz (flat glass artist) and in 2021 with Sasha Grbich (Videographer).

Since gaining her degree she has been consistently shortlisted for prestigious art prizes, most notably The Heysen Prize (three times), the Tatiara Art Prize (twice), the Latent Photography Prize SALA 2018 and the Contemporary Art Prize SALA 2019. In 2018 Morgenstern’s video “Visitors of the Night” was chosen as a projection at the Adelaide Festival Centre and in early 2022 and her video “I am the Wind” was shown at Praxis Artspace.

In 2021 she was awarded an independent makers Arts SA grant to learn how to use glass as a medium, and a Guildhouse Catapult mentorship in which she created a well-received video work with Sasha Grbich – artist, writer and lecturer who works responsively with places and communities. In 2022 she received an Arts SA Fellowship and in 2023 she was awarded a Fringe Best Visual Art & Design award and an Eran Svigos award for best visual arts exhibition for ‘I Dwell In Possibility’.

Morgenstern’s work is held in many collections both here in Australia and overseas.